Union Stands Firm On Holiday

The Holiday Clause That Is Part Of Many Municipal Contracts Is Not A Part Of Wallingford's Labor Pacts -- A Source Of Ongoing Controversy Over Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

January 28, 2000|By KEN BYRON; Courant Staff Writer

WALLINGFORD — As criticism of Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. mounted in the days before and after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the unions representing town workers were among those condemning the mayor for his refusal to close town hall in recognition of the holiday.

A number of unions represent town workers, but the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has the largest group.

And AFSCME has taken a leading role in pressuring Dickinson to make King Day a town holiday. In press releases and interviews, AFSCME spokesmen have said the mayor should back down and recognize the holiday.

But in contract negotiations in recent years, AFSCME has refused suggestions by the mayor to give up an existing holiday in return for taking King Day off. Dickinson has approached AFSCME, and other unions, twice in the past two years about amending existing contracts to make the swap. He was rebuffed on those occasions.

And anyone counting on the union to back down now to settle what has become an ever more embarrassing issue for the town should think again.

The union says it is not simply holding out for an additional day off for its members, but pushing for proper recognition of the holiday. Adding King Day would bring the number of paid holidays for town staff to 13.

``We believe that making a swap would diminish the meaning of the King holiday,'' AFSCME Council 4 spokesman Bill Myerson said. ``The honor of that day stands on its own and it should stay that way.''

Myerson said AFSCME would still not be interested in making a swap. An idea proposed by Dickinson would be combining the holidays for Washington's and Lincoln's birthdays into one, which would free a day off for the King holiday.

Cheshire has 13 paid holidays and Meriden has 12. The two communities have had King Day off for 10 years or more, and in both the establishment of the holiday was not an issue. Meriden City Manager Roger Kemp said many municipal labor contracts include a labor clause that gives workers any holiday designated by the state. That avoids debate about a specific holiday, Kemp said.

Wallingford's contracts do not have that holiday clause.

The seeming unwillingness to compromise on both sides in Wallingford could mean the effort to make King Day a town holiday would be a matter of who blinks first.

A bill being pushed by state Rep. Mary Mushinsky, D-Wallingford, would require all municipalities to honor the holiday. But there is a strong chance the legislation will include a clause that lets local legislative bodies vote specifically not to have the holiday.

News of Mushinsky's bill was met with considerable resentment in Wallingford among both Democrats and Republicans, with one Republican saying, in effect, that Mushinsky should mind her own business and stay out of the issue. Given the antipathy expressed toward the bill, and Gov. John G. Rowland's support for it, it is possible the town council might end up voting against having the holiday.

The sort of acrimony between town officials and the unions in Wallingford over recognizing King Day may be unique in Connecticut.

``When this holiday came into being, most cities and towns followed the federal government's lead and consolidated Washington's and Lincoln's birthdays and took the extra day for King Day,'' said Kevin Maloney, a spokesman for the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities.